New Delhi, Nov 02: After splitting in June this year, the two factions of Jaish-e-Mohammad led by Masood Azhar and Shah Mazhar have started targeting each other and are engaged in a bloody feud to control mosques in Karachi. Mazhar, after being suspended along with 12 senior JeM activists, formed al-Furqan and has been indulging in armed fights with Masood Azhar's faction over control of mosques for financial gains.

Recently a JeM dissident, Abdullah Shah Mazhar, escaped an armed attack. He was fired upon while he was entering a mosque in Karachi's Sharfabad locality, reports "The Friday Times".

Conflict between the two groups came to the fore when the Mazhar faction did not allow Masood Azhar to give a sermon at Masjid-e-Bataha in Karachi's Sakhi Hasan locality in north Nazimabad, the weekly said.

The two groups clashed over the possession of the mosque. The faction led by Mazhar prevailed in the end. After that Masood Azhar tried to deliver a Friday sermon at Binori town mosque, influenced by his mentor Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai. But the mosque's administrator, Dr Abdur Razzaq Iskander, did now allow him to use the premises.

Another scuffle between the two factions was reported at a mosque in Korangi. This mosque was captured by Azhar's group. A close aide of Masood Azhar said that a conflict on the possession of mosque was due to its precious real estate value and its madrassas.

Bureau Report